Vacations Made Easy / failure to provide service

I called Vacations Made Easy on 5/23/15 to confirm that a bus pickup was included in my reservation for the Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater. I was assured that it was and the operator would call GrayLine to confirm everything had been arranged properly. The day of the event (5/24/15) I called GrayLine to double check everything was in order. The operator indicated that the Vacations Made Easy operator had called the day before. Everything had been confirmed and the bus would pick us up at the hotel between 5:00 and 5:30.

But the bus never arrived. While waiting for GrayLine to arrive, the hotel made numerous calls reminding the “Fords” were waiting for a bus pick-up. The reply: “The bus is on the way. Don’t worry.”

Finally, I called myself to let them know we were going to drive ourselves to the event. I was put on hold. When the operator returned, she asked me to read information from my ticket. She put me on hold again. This time she came back with the message that there must be a mistake. I didn’t have reservations for three at the Dinner Theater, would I like to go some place else? When I protested with, “but my ticket says, ” she said, “I’m sorry, there is nothing I can do. Contact VME.”

When I contacted Vacations Made Easy they indicated that the bus had never been part of the reservation, and said my claim that I had been told the bus was included couldn’t have happened. I asked them, if they were accusing me of making everything up. They responded, I must be mistaken; no one on their end would say such a thing. I asked to speak to a supervisor about a refund.

The supervisor called to tell me that they couldn’t refund my money, because the event had already been paid for. It was their mistake, but now they are unwilling to admit it so I am the one who has to pay. I think others should be warned to stay away from VME.